Have you read The Three Billy Goats Gruff?

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famousanonamos@reddit

As a fellow Californian, it was one of my favorite little stories when I was little but I don't know if I ever actually saw it in a book.

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sheilahulud@reddit

Yes and I have told it was a bedtime story. I like doing the different goats’ and the troll’s voices.

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MostlyChaoticNeutral@reddit

My grandparents had the Little Golden Books version of it in the book basket when I was a kid. It may still be in the basement somewhere.

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Catalina_Eddie@reddit

My brother and I both had the Little Golden Books!

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dontforgettowriteme@reddit

My parents still have our collection of Little Golden Books. We were obsessed with them. My dad would read them backwards and we would laugh and laugh because of how ridiculous it sounded.

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barredowl123@reddit

I had that! It’s the only reason I know what this is.

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nilecrane@reddit

Not as an adult but remember it from my childhood.

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Kinetic_Silverwolf@reddit

Yes I have. I have it in multiple children's books as a child, including within one of the volumes of The Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature, which was a GEM to me as a child.

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Appropriate-Win3525@reddit

I teach PreK. I have three or four versions on my bookshelf at school, including on audio.

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shutupimrosiev@reddit

That was one of the first stories I ever read!

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moonmoonboog@reddit

Read many different versions growing up in Minnesota.

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MamaMidgePidge@reddit

Yes, both as a child and to my own children.

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Fire_Mission@reddit

Many times. I was actually one of the goats in a binder play of the story.

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ImportantSir2131@reddit

Yes. And in elementary school we did a play, complete with songs.

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paulrudds@reddit

Oh my, I totally forgot about that, I forget the story entirely, but I remember it.

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I had it in a fairytale story collection, I believe. I also saw it in kid shows, had it read to us at storytime, and have a vague memory of a play. I’ve seen reference to it in the PBS Kids shows my preschooler watches, too, particularly Peg + Cat.

I’m in Washington. One of Seattle’s more popular quirky tourist attractions is the Fremont Troll. It’s a sculpture of a huge troll holding a real VW Beetle located under the Fremont freeway bridge. 3 Billy Goats Gruff is most local kids’ greatest context for a troll under a bridge, although the sculpture itself is probably more related to Seattle’s Nordic heritage, where troll stories are common.

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Puukkot@reddit

It’s a classic. I suspect it just somehow bypassed your husband.

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MotherofaPickle@reddit

Read it? We had a whole playground game based on it because we liked it so much.

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peaveyftw@reddit

I heard it in kindergarten, yeah, but I haevn't read the book on its own.

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ParadoxicalFrog@reddit

Yeah, it was one of the storybooks my mom read me when I was little.

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Taleigh@reddit

Yep. I am in oregon went to school here and I heard it lots

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cohrt@reddit

Never heard of it.

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GSilky@reddit

Yes. And a ton of others, many of which are not anything I'm going to admit liking. My grandma had this collection of children's tales from Reader's Digest called "Book Trails" which covered pretty much the gamut of American kids folklore/tales. It includes the billy goats (who were my favorite) and tons more poems, songs, stories, that Americans all used to know (it even discussed Froggy Went a Courting and gave multiple versions of the song). Unfortunately they also contained "Little Black Sambo", which isn't too terrible for what it is, but I am not defending it today...

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MagentaMist@reddit

Yes. We had a big book of classic fairy tales.

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Carinyosa99@reddit

I'm older than you and I didn't live in the US when I was a kid (dad was a teacher on US military bases overseas) but I grew up with it. Both my parents knew the story - they were from Michigan and DC. I'm going to assume you're in your 20s or 30s and I think your generation it would be a 50-50 chance of you knowing the stories I grew up with as a kid.

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Ok-Thing-2222@reddit

Yes, and I firmly believe that all parents need to read their kids fairy tales and nursery rhymes!

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Imaginary_Ladder_917@reddit

I definitely heard it. It’s probably less to do with location than parents’ interest in it or kid lit experience. It wasn’t necessarily one of my favorite stories and I don’t know if I’ve ever read it to my kids.

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Expat111@reddit

I certainly had it read to me many times as a wee kid. Plus I saw cartoon versions on TV.

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SnooPineapples280@reddit

I’ve heard of it for sure, but I’m not sure I read it/ had it read to me.

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that-Sarah-girl@reddit

Yeah my mom used to read it when I was little. And there was a park near our house with a trip trap bridge and we played bridge troll.

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theragu40@reddit

I think by now it's pretty obvious your husband is an extreme outlier, as this is a super common childhood story.

What else doesn't he know?? And how did this happen? I'm having a hard time understanding how you could make it through childhood and not have encountered this at least a few times on accident.

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Special-Attitude-242@reddit

Yes I have read it. As kids my babysitter, sister and I would act it out.

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worrymon@reddit

Not for over 45 years. It was one of many stories in several different books I had.

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Bluemonogi@reddit

Yes. It was in some collection of stories when I was a kid.

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CompanyOther2608@reddit

Yes, it’s a classic.

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Practical-Ad6548@reddit

My first grade class put on a play of this story

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bjams@reddit

I had never even heard of it until I read The Dresden Files a few years ago. In the books, The Gruff Brothers are Fae and try to kill him lol.

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Bracatto@reddit

when I was a kid yeah. I dont remember much lol. something about some goats and a bridge and...where there waffle cones?

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ChicagoRex@reddit

I think this has less to do with geography than with other social factors. There are parts of American culture that used to be considered standard or universal, even though they were mostly based on Western European traditions. That's gradually changing, even though individual households, families, or communities may continue to embrace Eurocentrism.

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GeekyPassion@reddit

Yea it was one or my favorites as a kid. My kid also has a copy now

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unhalfbricklayer@reddit

I loved this book as a kid. I grew up in New England in the 70s

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CecilyRider@reddit

Oregonian here. Not sure I ever read the book but I knew the story

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devilscabinet@reddit

Yep!

I am a librarian, and have found that there are a lot of young parents out there who don't know the basic fairy tales and nursery rhymes that are so familiar to most people of past generations. I have run storytimes where I had to teach the majority of the parents really basic nursery rhymes (ex. "Jack and Jill").

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Loud_Ad_4515@reddit

Yes. And my kids read it in school, and made popsicle stick puppets to act it out.

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syncopatedchild@reddit

Yup! Definitely a classic in my house!

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VectorB@reddit

Whose that trip trapping over my bridge!!!

over every bridge we cross on a walk.

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trailquail@reddit

Literally the only part I remember lol

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Traditional-Ad-8737@reddit

Born in NY, grew up in NH. All. The. Time.

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anonymousdlm@reddit

The consensus seems to be that your husband is the only person who never heard of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

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Positive-Froyo-1732@reddit

Literally the entire reason we refer to Internet assholes as trolls.

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anonymousdlm@reddit

Fellow Oregonian here. I remember my Mom reading me Billy Goat’s Gruff when I was young. So, not all Oregonian’s are in the same boat as your husband.

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RockyArby@reddit

Oh yeah, grew up in Florida and loved that story

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redheadMInerd2@reddit

Yes, I had the book.

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sleepyonthedl@reddit

Massachusetts here. You've unlocked a memory for me haha. Yes I read this book a lot, I believe it was the version illustrated by Paul Galdone.

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tiny_purple_Alfador@reddit

Go look at the wikipedia article for this story, it's a widely known and beloved story with dozens of retellings, performances, adapatations and a huge array pop culture references it. Your husband is definitely the weird one, here.

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Maronita2025@reddit

Grew up in the northeast and never heard of it.

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drillbit7@reddit

Yes, troll! Now wait for my big brother!

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HarveyMushman72@reddit

Yes. I was the troll in a school play.

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Ok-Worth-4721@reddit

Yes I did. Oregonian btw. My mother was a firm believer in reading. Now I am.

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MeTieDoughtyWalker@reddit

Absolutely.

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nghtmrbae@reddit

Yep and my kids got a copy when they were babies. It's still on the shelf.

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fuzzyizmit@reddit

Read it, yes. Know it, yes. Midwest.

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Vandal_A@reddit

I don't remember even hearing of it

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Big-Ad4382@reddit

A million times.

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Slight_Literature_67@reddit

It was often read to us in elementary school (kindergarten and first grade) when I attended in the '90s. My elementary school even did a Three Billy Goats Gruff play (sorry you had to sit through that, mom).

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dontforgettowriteme@reddit

Oh yeah, we read a lot of classic fairy tales in childhood.

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Sample-quantity@reddit

Yes absolutely.

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FireflyRave@reddit

I was raised in Alabama. My parents are from New York and Pennsylvania. I know I've heard of the story but can't say if it came from my parents or a daycare or school first. Or Reading Rainbow...

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Ok-Scarcity-5754@reddit

I grew up in Texas, my mom is from Oklahoma and my dad is from Pennsylvania. I’ve heard the story all my life

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brainsewage@reddit

Okay, does anyone else remember the audio version with the little songs for the goats' dialogue?

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westslexander@reddit

Oh man. I forgot about that. That was absolute favorite as a kid. I had my mother read it to me more times than I can count.

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SallyJane5555@reddit

It was in my first grade reading book and we got to act it out.

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gnirpss@reddit

Oregonian here! That was probably one of my most-read books as a kid. Your husband's 1st grade teacher must not have had it as part of their collection.

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